Geezer Of The Seas

There was erosion/undermining of a section of Southbound lanes in Lake County, but it's been repaired and reopened. 

You should b good all the way south and fuel if needed shouldn't be an issue. Just a lot of seemingly never ending construction in the Central Florida segment.

Fuel supplies might be a little sketchy until marine petroleum supply chain is fully up and running. 

Most, but not all of metro Orlando's fuel supply comes via pipeline from Tampa (maybe Port Manatee) to a terminal in South Orange County. Remaining portion comes via tanker truck from PC. MCO is supplied via pipeline from PC ( used to be from pipeline from Tampa but that line dates back to SAC base days).

If there's draft restrictions at either port that might gum up delivery by marine tanker but not by barge. Then there's vessel procurement for delivery...... 

51 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

MCO also opening back tomorrow (though some arrivals will come in tonight), though they didn't provide a time.

My nephew was supposed to drive an Airbus from Austin to Orlando and back Wednesday; canceled needless to say. Not a total loss though , he apparently receives compensation for such events in lieu of flight pay and was scheduled on another trip. Diaper money for the twin daughters......

Discounting wind damage if any, the Port of Tampa fared well.with Milton going ashore in the Sarasota are, tide gouges along Tampa Bay indicated 2' BELOW normal at landfall.

Most notable damage in the area everyone has surely seen by now is 2/3 of the roof membrane peeled off Tropicana Field in St Pete. New stadium to open in 2028 so about a 1000 blue tarps from Home Depot ought to do it. 

Fortunately, Milton largely underperformed in our neck of the woods. Trees  are largely vertical, just the usual stripped leaves, twigs, smaller branches. Have seen one uprooted oak in the complex that took a hunk of sidewalk along for the ride.

Never lost power, internet or cell service. Why even the indoor plumbing still works.

42 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I just read over on CC that all FL are going to close tonite and not sure when they will re-open.  Grain of salt (source) but if true - YIKES.

The storm surge warning was extended south to Port Canaveral and the coast is under a hurricane warning as well. A five foot surge moving up the harbor at PC might be a problem, especially for the navigation channel. Prolonged generally East wind coupled with stout East wind that's been along the Central coast since last weekend. Whole lotta sand gonna move around.......

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Yep, we've been here (near Disney) since then as well. Had just finished building our first and only house in Fall 2003 too... great timing!

Stay safe and hopefully you don't lose power for nearly that long this time around. Knock on wood, we're pretty good about not losing power for long (or at all) where we are.

Been a Floridian for almost 55 years, Mrs Geezer is a native, she's experienced worse than anything I've seen. My 'first' was David in 1979, 9 years after moving to Central Florida. 

Stupid hurricanes..........

Local weather forecast office prognostications(Melbourne NWS) is currently expecting high end tropical storm force winds and hurricane force gusts up to 100 mph in the immediate vicinity of the track of the center for  Metro Orlando.

Seen this movie 20 years ago (Charley), and 8 days without power (eyes beautiful oak trees outside warily). 

A shame regarding your knee. Some free unsolicited medical advice from a retired paramedic, if you didn't already know:

Rest (to the extent possible)

Ice (Daily as much as possible, your Genie can certainly keep the ice coming and maybe get you a few small trash bags for use)

Compression (When in a port with decent shopping, pick up an elastic knee brace)

Elevation ( Whenever you're in that awesome suite)

Feel better soon; if not get it looked at when you return home. What I thought was a sprain 6 years ago turned out to be a meniscus tear. Didn't follow my own advice and let it linger for 2 years. A less than 1 hour arthroscopic procedure had me good as new in 4 weeks.

30 minutes ago, BobbieS said:

 I have seen people be turned away for priority check-in at Miami due to the lack of "Suite" or class being on the SetSail pass. 

Happened to us at Port Canaveral April '23 on Wonder. Believe it said Jr. Suite on the Set Sail pass; the old coot at the entry to the suite check in didn't care..............and was quite adamant and emphatic about it. His HOA must be proud of him................. We boarded with "the great unwashed", didn't skip a beat. We prefer later check-in and Royal truly has the large ship boarding process down to an art for the most part.

Port Tampa Bay Information as of 9/29

Guess the ships take a number like the Publix Deli Counter......

Hurricane Helene's parting shot. The Port of Tampa opened yesterday,  but with a temporary draft restriction of 28'.  Apparently not horribly impactful for cruise ships, but sounds problematic for petroleum, bulk cargo, and container ships. 

Sounds like there could be I-4 like traffic jams in the Gulf outside the channel..... 

57 minutes ago, Kelseylovestocruise said:

We looked into cost of travel and then the only reasonable option that works with our time is driving which we don’t like. Instead we are hoping we will get more offers and can use one for April as we have some time off then. 

We're doing a roundtrip Orlando to Lauderdale on Brightline early November. Partly the novelty, mostly no way I want to drive to Lauderdale............ever. Swallowed hard and booked. Brightline's pricing is shall we say, dynamic.

Port Canaveral is now receiving ships. MSC Seashore & Disney Wish are in the harbor, Utopia, Adventure, & Carnival Glory just offshore waiting their turn. Florida Today reports Terminal 3 is without power, but operating on backup generator.

Per the local panic peddlers, er, media. USCG has ordered Port Canaveral  to Condition Zulu (closed) at midnight tonight.  Florida Today reported earlier today the big concern is not so much the harbor and Port facilities, but the risk of shoaling in the navigation channel from the prolonged Southeast wind and resulting  building near shore seas. 

Port Canaveral was placed on Status Whiskey by the USCG late yesterday......but that was before the NHC placed East Coast Florida under a tropical storm warning. 

St John's County  will probably be saying goodbye to some of the $35M dollars worth of Federal taxpayers money pumped on their beaches over the last several months, and Portions of A1A in Flagler Beach will do its vanishing act.....again.

Outstanding you received the satisfactory resolution you were entitled to. 

Insurance companies take their responsibility to obfuscate and deny payment of claims very seriously. 

Only in revenue service since January, surely the powertrain warranty is  still active.....................

Only four cruises on Royal, but 2 of them were on Mariner if that helps. 

In descending order:

Jewel of the Seas 

Wonder of the Seas

Of the 2 sailings on Mariner, our first was the best. Post Covid startup, 50% capacity, insane price for a Grand Suite. Memorable for our first time on a ship.

The late Toby Keith's song (I ain't) As Good As I Once Was applies to food and me. Despite the eye popping, belly busting offerings available on the ships, I don't eat more or differently than at home.

Compared to my 14 year old grandson, I'm an anorexic. He, OTOH would present a clear and present danger to a ship's kitchen........

Not political, but the administration in DC states they have no current plans to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act.

Recalling the earlier havoc wreaked on the supply chain by the collapse of the bridge over the entry to Baltimore Harbor..............and that was one port.

We shall see.

Thanks for that @Gadget Hackwrench. Answered my questioned and eased my anxiety. Sailing out FLL on our first Geezer, er, Holland America cruise, MS Nieuw Amsterdam, 7 days. Kinda lame itinerary, but we're looking forward to being on a ship with a passenger count less  than the population of Orlando, and the experience of a new to us cruise line.

Being new at this cruise stuff, anyone have any idea if the dock labor in Florida cruise ports (porters in particular) is union? The Longshoremen have voted to go on strike October 1st. at Gulf/East Coast ports. Hurricanes, pandemics, now labor issues to ponder.................and a cruise coming up in less than 60 days???!!!!! 

Wishful thinking here I know, but RCL would do passengers a great service if they posted on their website  ACTUAL PHOTOS of forbidden electrical adapters. 

Cruisehive, where I first read this information,  displayed a photo of a plug adapter that is capable of 240v or North American 110v. Is that forbidden? Does look kinda sinister with all those prongs and a switch on the bottom.This blog, puts up a photo of a 110v corded power strip for illustration purposes, which as long as I've been getting on RCL ships has always been forbidden.  So the Interwebs is furthering the confusion.

The rest of it? Guns, knives, nuclear tipped cruise missiles,  etc. I get......

I have one of the now banned plug in "cubes". In 4 cruises, didn't need it at all on Wonder, found it unplugged from an outlet on Jewel.  I think the cabin stewards are drilled on this issue. On Wonder I left a 110v charger plugged in at the desk, was unplugged on our return. On Mariner,  returned from a shore day and found our toothbrush charger unplugged.  No harm no foul, the brush was fully charged.  

I understand and appreciate their vigilance. Can't imagine a ship fire is a lot of fun......